'The Mandalorian': Could We See A Familiar Jedi Team Up With Mando?

In recent memory, two of the Star Wars projects that have united fandom are the Disney+ TV series The Mandalorian and the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Both were released in November 2019, and they were met with a lot of positive reception from the fans. Just as people want to mix peanut butter and chocolate to combine the best of both worlds, it would make some degree of sense to combine the characters of these properties.

The rumor (which is probably a certainty given the success of the video game) is that Fallen Order is getting a sequel that would be released in late 2022. That would be a total of three years after the first game's release. It can be easy for some fans to kind of forget about certain characters once they finish a game once they pop up elsewhere. So would it not make sense to have Cal Kestis appear in The Mandalorian?

As this article from CBR points out, Cal would be a natural addition to the setting of The Mandalorian. As we have seen in the recent marketing for The Mandalorian, Din Djarin is still set on bringing The Child to "enemy sorcerors." While Ahsoka is pretty much a certainty at this point based on what we have heard, it could also be possible for Cal Kestis to be around at this point in the timeline.

The last time that we saw him in 14 BBY, he found a holocron and chose to destroy it, in order to ensure the safety of Force-sensitive children. Had he looked into it more, he might have seen the name of The Child, who was born about 41 BBY. The Mandalorian is set 9 ABY. If Cal is in his late teens in the video game, then he would be around 40 years old at the time of the TV series. Cameron Monaghan, who played Cal Kestis, is 27 years old in real life. All that he would need is some age makeup, which would work pretty well. Modeling the Cal Kestis after Cameron Monaghan really set Star Wars up for easy live-action casting for the character. Furthermore, Tina Ivlev (31), who played Nightsister Merrin, would need a bit of age makeup as well, and Debra Wilson (58) would also need age makeup, if she if even still around during this time period.

All of this may also pose a question of whether putting such characters in The Mandalorian would spoil their fate beyond a future Fallen Order sequel, thus taking away some of the suspense. Putting Cal Kestis in The Mandalorian would certainly keep him present in the minds of the Star Wars fans. By the time the Fallen Order sequel comes out, he would not be forgotten. But one cannot help wondering whether the sequel would take place right after the first game, or whether an appearance on The Mandalorian would allow for it to jump ahead in the timeline. It could take place closer to the original trilogy, or it could even take place after The Mandalorian. If the latter ends up happening, then Cal's fate would not be spoiled. In any case, Star Wars fans are now used to knowing the fates of certain characters and still enjoying stories of them that take place much earlier in the timeline.

The possibilities are endless. As long as there is some well-planned cross media synergy, something like this could work really well. Ahsoka has been the more rumored returning Force-user, but Cal Kestis would certainly be a surprise, and a welcome one, at that.

Written By Steven Shinder

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